Scholarship / Chevening Academic essay - Three courses choice in UK [2]

Dear all,
Thank you for all your review my last two essay. This is the third essay I need your feedback to improve my writing. Thanks for taking time!

Explain picking these particular courses

Outline why you have selected your chosen three university courses, and explain how this relates to your previous academic or professional experience and your plans for the future. Please do not duplicate the information you have entered on the work experience and education section of this form (minimum word count: 100 words, maximum word count: 500 words)

Speaking of academic ability, I am confident about my knowledge and skills for any education-related postgraduate courses for 9-year experience working with many popular E-learning platforms including Blackboard, Canvas and Moodle. As a trainer, I have created training materials and facilitated workshops on college-level educational software, general technical support, and best practices for distance learning. As a learner, I continuously participate in Massive Open Online Course to update my knowledge in the field. Having experience with both user-end and back-end of the online learning system, I have the unique perspective of identifying challenges that may interfere with online teaching strategies while also identifying solutions to improve student learning and retention.

On the educational level, I choose UK as my study destination due to the fact it is the first nation applied technology in education and implemented a completely online degree from college to doctoral level. This is also home to the only world-ranked open university, which revolutionized the scope of the correspondence program and inspired the creation of many "Open University", where use distance education technologies as delivery methods.

Through my research, University College London (UCL) is my first choice with the Master in Education and Technology. As the world's first-ranked institute in Education subject, UCL provides an excellent environment for developing methodological skills to design, use and critically appraise 'EdTech' with its unique framework for research-based education (Connected Curriculum) and the leading interdisciplinary centre for the innovative study and design of digital media and technologies (UCL Knowledge Lab). Furthermore, unique optional modules like "Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education" and "Learning Design for Online and Blended Learning" give me an opportunity for practical application of AI concepts to specific educational problems and explores design methods for blended and online education.

My second choice is the University of Nottingham with the Master in Digital Teaching and Learning. Apart from learning to evaluate the use of technologies in educational contexts, I can develop the ability to systematically understand and critically evaluate and apply research methodologies relevant to digital technologies in actual research projects. More importantly, this program is offered by Learning Sciences Research Institute (LSRI), in which I will have an invaluable opportunity to connect with experts in the field at the first centre of excellence for research in the learning sciences in the UK. This network will help me a lot in my future research career in Vietnam particularly.

My last choice is the University of Bristol with the Master in Education, specializing in Learning, Technology and Society. This program provides an open pathway for me to design my learning in applying digital technologies in a wide variety of settings and developing curriculum and assessment in different education levels, which will be the best foundation for me to become a lecturer and course developer in the future.

Overall, postgraduate study in UK does not only provide me essential knowledge to work in the rapidly growing EdTech sector, but also an invaluable long-term international networking opportunities with field expert that support my potential research career.

Scholarship / Chevening Career Plan essay - Educational Technology [3]

Here is my essay on Career Plan, please help me review the last time before submitting. Thank you so much for reading

My plans for further career

One of the biggest barriers to online education in XX is the manpower specialized in E-learning, who responsible not only to involve in assessing students' educational needs and matching those needs with appropriate technologies, but also identify, design, and effectively incorporate technology plans and tools to develop and enhance curriculum for a virtual learning environment. Another significant barrier in the development and promotion of modern education is the limitations in cognitive thinking and technology use skills of both instructors and learners, as not many of them willing to adopt the new learning environment.

Therefore, my first objective upon completion of the Master will be continuing my work at the YYY in XX, where I can apply the knowledge and experience gained from my study for innovation in teaching and learning in the different educational settings. As one of the largest private educational organizations in XX, YY provides a variety of educational services across XX, from English language training, K-12 solutions, vocational education, higher education and especially, Ed-tech solutions. I am seeing myself as a "Learning Design and Technology Specialist", rotating at different branches, provide feedback and recommendations into the continuous improvement of all training resources and the user experience for both instructors and students. This will help me to share my knowledge and skills obtained from the UK as well as learn from other professionals in the Group. At the same time, I will have an opportunity to participate in research work in Educational Technologies, emphasize different approaches of ICT tools and techniques appropriate to the learners' needs.

Five-year post-graduation, I am planning to pursue doctoral studies in Education, focus on a critical understanding of technology within online education teaching and learning as well as an understanding of learner analytical dashboards in online education. I know that my work only is not enough to change prejudice about online learning, therefore I hope to inspire and contribute to the training of a new generation of ed-tech experts for XX. I will do this by assuming the lecturer position and further as an advisor in both public and private institutes, where I hope to contribute to give people a better view of online learning and the need to apply technology in teaching and learning in the industrial age 4.0.

In a longer-term, maybe ten years, I hope to be part of the program development board to develop and successfully implement the first Bachelor degree in Education Technology in XX. This will not only provide formal systematic training in educational technology but also open up opportunities for transition to developed countries, especially the UK.

By equipping scholars with education and networking experience, the Chevening award can benefit this movement and help XX to join the global current of education development. By following this career progression, it will be possible to make necessary adjustments based on my experience and the prevailing circumstances.

Scholarship / Leadership & Influence - Respect every ideas and connect the team for the goal. [3]

Please have some times to read my essay and give your review about my writing. Thank you so much and I appreciate every comments.

LEADERSHIP AND INFLUENCE

Chevening is looking for individuals who will be future leaders or influencers in their home countries. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your own leadership and influencing skills to support your answer.

(minimum word count: 100 words, maximum word count: 500 words)

My mother always teaches me: "A leader does not need to be the best, but to recognize the potential of each individual and connect them to grab the final objective. This is not any skill that can be learned after several days but acquired through hard work, dedication, and perseverance throughout your whole life."

It was not until my second year that I truly understood what she meant. That was the story when our all-new team was assigned to prepare the Welcome Party for the freshman. Five days before the party, the usual buffet service provider suddenly terminated the contract. However, the time was too urgent to find a new supplier, not to mention that our team continuous quarreled about selecting the new supplier due to restricted food choices. It was hard to have more than one supplier for a buffet, but how about designing a street-food market? Rather than disputing about choosing dishes, it will be better to introduce typical dishes of each culture and sell them in the backyard. I immediate invited the two most chosen suppliers with my senior and proposed to try my plan. Four days left, I gathered my team up to promulgate the new form of the party. We worked all the time except classes, with all our strength to get our sweetest victory: an unexpected high earning from the ticket sales, which even surpass the operation expenses, and the rewards for successful form a long-term contract with suppliers.

One of the best challenges as a leader that I have ever faced was the time being the manager of the enriched-learning center. In 2017, I entered Eye Level at its most difficult time, negative profits, 5 managers in 3 months, no part-time teachers and 2 resigned full-time teachers on my first day. Thus, I decided to place a bet on my probation. I asked the two resigned teachers to stay with me for two months with a 15% pay rise (which I deducted from my salary). Believing in the quality of their teaching, I entrusted entire academic works to the two teachers, including finding substitute teachers. I suggested them to introduce acquaintances for the part-time positions first and together, they would take turns introducing the curriculum to parents instead of counselors. With the consultants, I let them focus completely on marketing the center through different channels while I was working directly with difficult cases. I won the bet and we did bring the profit back to zero and reach positive in the third month. The teachers did leave after two months but still stayed as part-timers and I successfully built the strongest team with me. Though everyone all left for their new job, we're still working and supporting each other in this education industry.

Throughout my experience until now, I do believe that besides promoting the strength of each member and guiding them to achieve the goals, a leader also needs to have the courage to take a required risk and be willing to put his/her faith in the team.